Garment hanger



Dec. 16, 1952 A, s 1 s 2,621,835

GARMENT HANGER Filed Sept. 11, 1948 a? 6% 1% z ZZ%W Patented Dec. 16, l952 UNITED STATES ATENT OFFICE 2 Claims.

This invention relates to garment hangers, and in particular it concerns a garment hanger especially adapted for easy packing and transportation in travelers luggage.

As is well known, the ordinary wire coat or dress hanger is not a very satisfactory device on which to hang mens trousers or womens skirts. Either a pair of trousers or a skirt, if placed on such an ordinary wire coat hanger, must be folded over the horizontal wire portion of the hanger, with the result that in time a noticeable crease is caused to appear across the garment.

Accordingly, when hanging their garments in their closets at home, most people hang trousers or skirts on special hangers adapted for that purposeusually the type of hanger having a piar of wooden bars hinged together with a wire hinge having a clamp adapted to hold the bars in engagement with the garment.

Hangers of the above described type are relatively satisfactory for use in a permanent clothes closet, but they are not well adapted for use by travelers. They are normally rather thick and bulky, so that they cannot be packed in luggage without wasting considerable space, and, moreover, since each hanger of the type described can accommodate only one garment, a traveler will often find it necessary to take several of such hangers in his luggage.

An object of this invention is to provide a garment hanger for use in travel which is particularly adapted to receive and support trousers and skirts but which will fold fiat so as to permit its being packed in a small volume with substantially no waste space.

Another object of my invention is to provide a garment hanger adapted for use by travelers which can accommodate simultaneously several garments and which may, when not in use, be folded flat for convenient packing into luggage.

Other objects and advantages of my invention will appear as the specification proceeds.

For purposes of illustration, I have shown, in the accompanying drawing, two embodiments of my invention.

The first embodiment is illustrated in Figures 1 and 2; Fig. l is a perspective View of a garment hanger made according to my invention; and Fig. 2 is a cross-sectional view of the garment hanger shown in Fig. 1, the section being taken along the line 2-2 in Fig. 1.

The second embodiment of my invention is shown in Figs. 3 to inclusive; Fig. 3 is a perspective view of a garment hanger which exemplifies the second embodiment of my invention; Fig. 4 is a cross-sectional view of the garment hanger of Fig. 3, the section being taken along along the line 4-4 in Fig. 3; and Fig. 5 is a fragmentary perspective View of a small portion of the hanger of Fig. 3, Fig. 5 being drawn on a larger scale so as to bring out clearly certain features of construction.

In Fig. 1, ll! denotes the body portion of a hanger made according to my invention. It consists of a single rod of relatively rigid, elastic metal, such as spring steel. As is shown in the drawing, the rod which forms body I!) has been folded repeatedly upon itself so as to produce a plurality of substantially parallel bars, occupying a common plane. In the example shown in the dawing, five of such parallel bars are formed by the folded rod, such bars being denoted respectively ll, l2, l3, l4, and i5. It will be understood that any desired number of such bars may be formed by the rod; normally, for optimum balance of the garment hanger, an odd number of bars is preferable, although an even number may be used if desired.

As may be seen from Fig. 1, the terminal ends of bars H and 15 have been folded over to form terminal members l6 and I1. These roundecl terminal members It and I! may be omitted if desired, but they have the advantage of keeping the relatively sharp ends of the rod which forms body portion It in positions where they cannot engage and snag any garment being hung on the hanger. If desired, substantially the same effect may be obtained by slightly flaring the ends of bars II and I5.

The parallel bar !3, being the middle one of the five bars comprising body portion II], is bent along its central portion so as to provide a slightly raised portion l8.

A wire hook I9 is formed from a single piece of wire folded tightly on itself at its midpoint and bent to form a hook element l9a as shown. Below the hook element I9a the wire-forming hook I9 is twisted at I91) and the two ends of the wire extend diagonally downward and outward therebelow to form a pair of hook arms 29 and 2|. The lower ends of arms 20 and 2! are bent to form loops 26a and 2m which encircle the raised portion I8.

As is best shown in Fig. 2, the loops 29a and 2m cooperate with the raised portion I8 to form a pivoted mounting for the hook Hi. When the hanger is supported by hook I9, the body portion Hi will be substantially balanced on loops 20a and 21a, and when the hanger is not in use, the

3 hook I9 is at liberty to fold over in either direction and to lie flat against body member Iii.

As a result of the novel hook construction just described, my garment hanger can be folded flat and packed in luggage so as to occupy a very limited space and to cause no packing space to be wasted.

In the use of my garment hanger, as shown in Fig. 1, skirts, trousers, or other garments can be slid between and held by the adjacent parallel bars II to I5 inclusive. The hanger shown will easily accommodate four garments simultaneously and will hold all of them in proper vertical position, free from undesired creases.

The second embodiment of my invention, as illustrated in Figs. 3 to 5 inclusive, embodies the same inventive concept as the hanger shown in Fig. 1, but it employs slightly different physical structure in achieving the objects of my invention.

In the Fig. 2 embodiment the body portion of the hanger is denoted 30. It is formed from a rod ofv spring steel or other elastic metal. in a manner similar to the-hanger of Fig. 1. In Fig. 3 the parallel bars formed by folding the steel rod repeatedly upon itself are denoted 3!, 32, 33, 34, and 35.

As in the Fig. 1 embodiment, the ends of the steel rod are folded to provide rounded terminals 36 and 31.

The middle rod 33-has, symmetrically spaced on either side of its midpoint, two pairs of small projections 44. These projections 44 are most clearly shown in Fig. 5; as may be seen, they may readily be formed into the rod comprising body member 30 by a machine operation before it is folded.

A supporting hook 39-is formed of a single piece of wire folded tightly on itself in a manner in which hook [9 of the Fig. 1 embodiment is constructed. The hook proper is denoted 39a, the twisted portion isdenoted 39b, and. the depending arms are denoted respectively 4!] and 4!.

The end of each of the arms 40 and 4| is bent around the central portion of parallel bar 33, between the respective pairs of projections 44, to form respectively loops 40a. and Ma. As is best shown in Fig. 4, loops 40a and 41a are formed entirely on one side of the arms 40 and 4| so that the arm is substantially tangential to the arc of the loop.

The embodiment of my invention just described is used in the same manner as the embodment of Fig. 1, and when supported by hook 39 it can carry as many as four garments simultaneously, just as will the Fig. 1 embodiment.

When the embodiment of Fig. 3 is to be packed away in a piece of luggage, the hook 39 can be folded over so as to lie flat onto body portion 30, and it may therefore be packed just as compactly as may the other embodiment herein shown. It will be noted, however, that the embodiment of Fig. 3 can only be folded in the direction such that it will lie flat on bars 34 and 35. Unlike the embodiment of the invention first described, this form of my invention cannot be packed with the hook folded over in either direction. Normally, however, this limitation is not objectionable.

While I have, for purposes of illustration, described herein two embodiments of my invention in considerable detail, it will be understood that persons skilled in the art can introduce many variations and alterations in detail without departing from the spirit of my invention.

I claim:

1. A garment hanger comprising a length of elastic metal folded upon itself repeatedly to form a plurality of substantially parallel bars having elongated recesses therebetween each of which is adapted to receive a, garment, said metal length being provided with. a spaced pair of discontinuities in a zone substantially at its midpoint to provide means for holding against longitudinal movement a supporting hook, a supporting hook carried on said metal length in said zone, said hook comprising a looped wire structure having two depending legs bent around said metal length in said zone to form a pivot, said wire hook being formed throughout substantially in a single plane whereby said hook on being folded over on said bars will lie flat thereon.

2. A garment hanger comprising a length of elastic metal folded upon itself repeatedly to form a plurality of substantially parallel bars having elongated recesses therebetween each of which is adapted to receive a garment, said metal length being provided with a spaced pair of discontinuities in a zone substantially at its midpoint to provide means for holding against longitudinal movement a supporting hook, a supporting hook carried on said metal length in said zone, said hook comprising a looped wire structure having two depending legs the lower ends of each of said depending legs being bent around the metal length in said zone to form at the lower end of each leg 3, loop substantially tangential with said leg, whereby said hook may be folded over against said bar portion and lie fiat thereon for convenient stowage.

ANNE K. STILES.

REFERENCES CITED The following references are of record in the file of this patent:

UNITED STATES PATENTS Number Name Date 409,777 Duhamel Aug. 27, 1889 617,130 Skinner Jan. 3, 1899 1,598,747 Scharles M Sept. 7, 1926 2,421,051 Brinkman May 27, 1947 

